Free Johnston - Heartbeat by Joan Johnston Page A

let him go.”
    Maggie watched Joe Ray’s face as Dr. Hollander put the weight of his medical opinion on the side of Joe Ray’s mother in the decision to unplug his father. The forty-seven-year-old plumber’s mouth twisted in an agonized grimace. His eyes looked tortured, as though his own life were at stake.
    Maggie looked away to avoid his pain.
    “Maybe he’ll get better,” Joe Ray pleaded. “Maybe—”
    “I’m very sorry,” Dr. Hollander said with authoritative finality. “Your father is legally dead, Mr. Belton. The machines keeping him alive are needed for other patients who can survive only with their help.”
    Joe Ray made a sound in his throat like a wounded animal. It was obvious he didn’t want to let go, and just as obvious he wasn’t being given much of a choice.
    Maggie’s job at the meeting was to make clear what legal options were available to the doctors and the hospital and to avoid legal pit-falls where they threatened. No legal issues were involved here, only the moral and ethical . . . and human ones.
    The committee didn’t take long to make its recommendation.
    “So we’re all agreed,” Dr. Hollander said. “Life support should be discontinued.”
    Joe Ray hissed out a long, rattling breath that sounded a lot like a dying man. “All right,” he said. “I give up.”
    “It’s all right, Joey,” Mrs. Belton said. “He’s with God already.”
    Joe Ray rose slowly, tears visible on his cheeks, and helped his mother from her chair. They left the meeting clinging to one another.
    “I’ll arrange for Joe Ray to have some time with his father before we turn off life support,” Roman said.
    Heads nodded and voices murmured assent for the doctor’s compassion.
    Maggie shot a sideways glance at Jack. Surely Roman’s consideration for Joe Ray Belton had convinced him the doctor was no murderer.
    “Since there’s nothing else for us to consider today,” Roman said, interrupting her musing, “this meeting is adjourned.”
    As the committee members dispersed, Maggie was surprised to see Jack approach Roman—his prime suspect—directly.
    “Doctor, may I have a word with you?”
    Maggie eavesdropped without feeling the least bit guilty. She had a stake in making sure Jack didn’t arrest the wrong man.
    “I’d like to ask you a few questions about the death of Laurel Morgan,” Jack said.
    Maggie’s jaw dropped. She closed her mouth and ogled the Texas Ranger. If Jack was just going to come right out and ask like that, why was it necessary to hide his identity?
    Jack identified himself as an insurance investigator for MEDCO and thanked Roman for his examination at the ballfield.
    “How’s your head?” Roman asked.
    “Still attached to my shoulders,” Jack answered with a friendly smile. “I need to know everything there is to know about the Morgan case, doctor, if I’m going to save you a big malpractice claim.”
    Roman smiled. “I’d appreciate whatever you can do, Mr. Kittrick. I did everything I could to save Laurel Morgan. I treated her as carefully, as skillfully, as though she were my own daughter.”
    As the two men walked out the door engrossed in conversation, Maggie realized why Jack wanted to stay incognito. She couldn’t imagine Roman talking so freely with Jack if he’d announced he was a Texas Ranger who wanted to question Roman as the prime suspect in a murder case. Maggie supposed she had a lot to learn about the police business. She intended to ask Jack plenty of questions when he returned to the conference room for the scheduled 10 A.M. meeting between MEDCO’s insurance investigator and SAG’s attorney.
    “Are you sleeping with him?”
    Maggie looked up to find Victoria staring after Jack as he walked down the hall with Roman. “That’s none of your business.”
    “Make sure he wears a decent tuxedo on Saturday. I imagine he’ll have to rent one, so send him to Anthony’s.”
    Maggie felt the heat rising at her throat. Embarrassment on